reader except of books on
agriculture, which he bought, read, and even made careful abstracts of
many, and on this subject alone did he ever seem to write from pleasure.
As a lad, he notes in his journal that he is reading _The Spectator_ and a
history of England, but after those two brief entries there is no further
mention of books or reading in his daily memorandum of "where and how my
time is spent." In his ledger, too, almost the least common expenditure
entered is one for books. Nor do his London invoices, so far as extant,
order any books but those which treated of farming and horses. In the
settlement of the Custis estate, "I had no particular reason for keeping
and handing down to his son, the books of the late Colo Custis saving that
I thought it would be taking the advantage of a low appraisement, to make
them my own property at it, and that to sell them was not an object."

With the broadening that resulted from the command of the army more
attention was paid to books, and immediately upon the close of the
Revolution Washington ordered the following works: "Life of Charles the
Twelfth," "Life of Louis the Fifteenth," "Life and Reign of Peter the
Great," Robertson's "History of America," Voltaire's "Letters," Vertot's
"Revolution of Rome" and "Revolution of Portugal," "Life of Gustavus
Adolphus," Sully's "Memoirs," Goldsmith's "Natural History," "Campaigns of
Marshal Turenne," Chambaud's "French and English Dictionary," Locke "on
the Human Understanding," and Robertson's "Charles the Fifth." From this
time on he was a fairly constant book-buyer, and subscribed as a "patron"
to a good many forthcoming works, while many were sent him as gifts. On
politics he seems to have now read with interest; yet in 1797, after his
retirement from the Presidency, in writing of the manner in which he spent
his hours, he said, "it may strike you that in this detail no mention is
made of any portion of time allotted to reading. The remark would be just,
for I have not looked into a book since I came home, nor shall I be able
to do it until I have discharged my workmen; probably not before the
nights grow long when possibly I may be looking into Doomsday book." There
can be no doubt that through all his life Washington gave to reading only
the time he could not use on more practical affairs.

His library was a curious medley of books, if those on military science
and agriculture are omitted. There is a fair amount of the standard